What are varicose veins? :

Veins are blood vessels that carry blood from your body's tissues to your heart. Your heart pumps the blood to your lungs to pick up oxygen. The oxygen-rich blood then is pumped to your body through blood vessels called arteries.

From your arteries, the blood flows through tiny blood vessels called capillaries, where it gives up its oxygen to the body's tissues. Your blood then returns to your heart through your veins to pick up more oxygen.

There are two main systems of veins in the legs:

• Deep veins: The leg muscles squeeze the deep veins during walking, carrying most of the blood back up the legs to the heart.
• Superficial veins: These occur under the skin which are less important and can form varicose veins.

All of these veins contain one-way valves to ensure that the blood flows towards the heart. Failure of these valves allows blood to flow backwards down the veins and results in an overload of pressure when standing. This excess pressure leads to widening of the veins so that they do not close properly. Blood then flows back into the leg along these veins and causes varicose veins to develop. Raised pressure in these veins also encourages the development of spider veins and discoloured areas which look like bruises.

Veins have one-way valves that help keep blood flowing toward your heart. If the valves are weak or damaged, blood can back up and pool in your veins. This causes the veins to swell, which can lead to varicose veins.

In varicose veins the veins are dilated, become long and coiled like a snake. It is common in those who stand for long hours like policemen, Waiters, salesmen and teachers.. It is more common in women and usually starts during pregnancy In many the varicosities regress after delivery but with recurrent pregnancies the vein remains permanently dilated
. Many factors can raise your risk for varicose veins. Examples of these factors include family history, older age, gender, pregnancy, overweight or obesity, lack of movement, and leg trauma.

Varicose veins are treated with lifestyle changes and medical procedures. The goals of treatment are to relieve symptoms, prevent complications, and improve appearance.